Exploring the Impact of Engineering Student and Professor Expectations on the Development of Student Engineering Identity and Navigation

Michael Galczynski

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Publication Date: June 26, 2016
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: June 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-68565-5
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Student Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: Student
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/p.26871
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/26871
Download Count: 496

Paper Authors

biography

Michael Galczynski University of Maryland - College Park

visit author page

Michael Galczynski is a Keystone Instructor in the Clark School of Engineering and a graduate student in the School of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

It could be said that the overarching or general goal of a college education in engineering is to successfully prepare and train students for careers in the field of engineering. Despite this seemingly simple goal, engineering school graduates often times lack numerous skills that professional engineering firms deem to be important to succeed in the workplace, such as the ability to communicate and work well with others (Katz, 1993). To better understand why engineering graduates may be lacking important skills, it might be useful to examine what expectations students have regarding what skills they believe are important by characterizing and comparing a student’s journey through their education to someone preparing for a standard trip.

Before someone starts on a journey they typically consult a map to make sure they know where they currently are and where they are planning to go, so that they can chart a course of travel and best prepare for what is to come. Travelling to their specified final destination is made easier by having this sort of awareness. The same could be said of college engineering students, as they begin their education with the goal of becoming a practicing engineer. The instructors whose intentions are to teach and guide the students to this destination, have already traveled to the end point that students wish to travel to. As such, the instructors intimately know the ins and outs of the path and what parts of the journey are the most critical. In contrast, because students have little formal experience with engineering they may have a totally different set of expectations and beliefs about their upcoming journey than their professors do, such as where it should ultimately lead and what parts of the journey are most important.

A disconnect between professors’ and students’ expectations may result in a misguided journey for students as they focus on the things that they think are important, rather than focusing on the things that professors and practicing engineers believe to be important. Providing first-year engineering students with a more comprehensive and clearly explained set of expectations could help to produce more capable engineering graduates.

While studies have explored students’ varying views of what it means to be an engineer, as well as how science students’ expectations can impact what they take away from their classes (Capobianco et al, 2011; Brinkworth et al., 2009; Redish et al., 1998) comparatively little has been done with regards to engineering education. As such, this paper will more specifically explore and compare the potentially different expectations of entry level college engineering students with those of experienced engineering faculty at the author’s home institution, a large state-supported research university. By conducting and comparing interviews with seasoned engineering professors and freshman level engineering students, the paper can provide evidence to determine if and to what extent differences between students’ and professors’ expectations exist and whether or not these differences could be potentially harmful to the student’s overall education and acquisition of important engineering skills.

List of References

Brinkworth, R., McCann, B., Matthews, C., & Nordström, K. (2009). First year expectations and experiences: Student and teacher perspectives. Higher Education, 58(2), 157-173.

Capobianco, B. M., Diefes‐dux, H. A., Mena, I., & Weller, J. (2011). What is an engineer? Implications of elementary school student conceptions for engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 100(2), 304-328.

Katz, S. M. (1993). The entry‐level engineer: Problems in transition from student to professional. Journal of Engineering Education, 82(3), 171-174.

Redish, E. F., Saul, J. M., & Steinberg, R. N. (1998). Student expectations in introductory physics. American Journal of Physics, 66(3), 212-224.

Citation
Format

Galczynski, M. (2016, June), Exploring the Impact of Engineering Student and Professor Expectations on the Development of Student Engineering Identity and Navigation Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26871

TY - CPAPER
AB - It could be said that the overarching or general goal of a college education in engineering is to successfully prepare and train students for careers in the field of engineering. Despite this seemingly simple goal, engineering school graduates often times lack numerous skills that professional engineering firms deem to be important to succeed in the workplace, such as the ability to communicate and work well with others (Katz, 1993). To better understand why engineering graduates may be lacking important skills, it might be useful to examine what expectations students have regarding what skills they believe are important by characterizing and comparing a student’s journey through their education to someone preparing for a standard trip.

Before someone starts on a journey they typically consult a map to make sure they know where they currently are and where they are planning to go, so that they can chart a course of travel and best prepare for what is to come. Travelling to their specified final destination is made easier by having this sort of awareness. The same could be said of college engineering students, as they begin their education with the goal of becoming a practicing engineer. The instructors whose intentions are to teach and guide the students to this destination, have already traveled to the end point that students wish to travel to. As such, the instructors intimately know the ins and outs of the path and what parts of the journey are the most critical. In contrast, because students have little formal experience with engineering they may have a totally different set of expectations and beliefs about their upcoming journey than their professors do, such as where it should ultimately lead and what parts of the journey are most important.

A disconnect between professors’ and students’ expectations may result in a misguided journey for students as they focus on the things that they think are important, rather than focusing on the things that professors and practicing engineers believe to be important. Providing first-year engineering students with a more comprehensive and clearly explained set of expectations could help to produce more capable engineering graduates.

While studies have explored students’ varying views of what it means to be an engineer, as well as how science students’ expectations can impact what they take away from their classes (Capobianco et al, 2011; Brinkworth et al., 2009; Redish et al., 1998) comparatively little has been done with regards to engineering education. As such, this paper will more specifically explore and compare the potentially different expectations of entry level college engineering students with those of experienced engineering faculty at the author’s home institution, a large state-supported research university. By conducting and comparing interviews with seasoned engineering professors and freshman level engineering students, the paper can provide evidence to determine if and to what extent differences between students’ and professors’ expectations exist and whether or not these differences could be potentially harmful to the student’s overall education and acquisition of important engineering skills.

List of References

Brinkworth, R., McCann, B., Matthews, C., &amp; Nordström, K. (2009). First year expectations and experiences: Student and teacher perspectives. Higher Education, 58(2), 157-173.

Capobianco, B. M., Diefes‐dux, H. A., Mena, I., &amp; Weller, J. (2011). What is an engineer? Implications of elementary school student conceptions for engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 100(2), 304-328.

Katz, S. M. (1993). The entry‐level engineer: Problems in transition from student to professional. Journal of Engineering Education, 82(3), 171-174.

Redish, E. F., Saul, J. M., &amp; Steinberg, R. N. (1998). Student expectations in introductory physics. American Journal of Physics, 66(3), 212-224.

AU - Michael Galczynski
CY - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA - 2016/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Exploring the Impact of Engineering Student and Professor Expectations on the Development of Student Engineering Identity and Navigation
UR - https://peer.asee.org/26871
DO - 10.18260/p.26871
ER -